PIAA TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS: O'Hara's Wilks again claims a medal in the discus

SHIPPENSBURG -- For the third time in four years, Cardinal O'Hara's Chazz Wilks left Shippensburg with a medal around his neck.

The Rider-bound senior took sixth in the discus with a throw of 169 feet, 2 inches. He was third in the discus as both a freshman and sophomore. The throw was his best of the season and his top distance in four trips to the state meet by nearly five feet.

"It's a nice way to go out, that's for sure," Wilks said.

To give you an idea how tough the competition was, Kyle Long of Hempfield won the event with a throw of 189-0. Ryan Hart of Downingtown East was fifth (174-4).

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"One of the officials said it was the best final ever," Wilks said. "They never had the top six throw 169 and above so I couldn't ask for more than that. I'm glad to be part of the best final ever."

Garnet Valley's Dan Herbster finished in 25th place with a throw of 120-1. He'll be back today for the shot put.

Teammates Ali Dastagirzada and Nate Emanuel chose not to sport a new do, but that did not stop the foursome from qualifying for today's final with a season best time of 7 minutes, 51.92 seconds, the fifth-best time in the qualifying round.

All three Delco teams qualified for the final. Cardinal O'Hara (Jim Belfatto, Mike Bilotta, Phil Swartz and Jim Boyle) turned in the sixth-fastest time (7:52.86). Upper Darby (Greg Dix, Andrew Thompson, Jamol Williams and Ramsey Kerkula) were eighth in their heat and 11th overall in 7:56.59. Nine of the 13 qualifiers came from the first heat.

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Malik Jones' left hamstring appears to be just fine.

The sophomore from Monsignor Bonner qualified for the semifinals in the 200 and the final in the 400. Jones won his 400-meter heat with a personal best time of 48.09. That was the second best time of the preliminary round. Later in the day he turned in the fastest time in the 200 (21.81).

"It's a little sore," Jones said of the hamstring after the 200, "but at least I'm in the semis and the final in the 400."

And now he has his sights set on Penn Wood's Eric Futch in the 200.

"I want to beat him," Jones said. "To be the best you have to beat the best."